Yemen: Bomb Blows Up Bus Filled with Air Force Personnel

The bus was driving on the road leading to the international airport in Sanaa when it was exploded by a bomb planted in the rear seat.

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Kochava Rozenbaum , 25/08/13 10:47

Aftermath of AMIA bombing

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A bus carrying Yemeni air force personnel was bombed on Sunday, killing 6 people and wounding 26 others in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen. Al Qaeda is suspected to be behind the attack, although details have not yet been released.

Witnesses say the van had been driving towards the Sanaa International airport, returning the soldiers to their base, when the bus blew up killing six people immediately and leaving several personnel in critical condition.

Ameen Saree, an air force officer who was near the scene rushed to find his colleagues wounded and bloody. Saree said the bomb had been planted in the vehicle.

"The bomb exploded in the rear part of the bus and six of our colleagues were immediately killed," he told Reuters news agency.

The government of Yemen is battling Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and other terrorists who often target the military. Attacks are most common in the south and east of Yemen, where lawlessness allows the Islamist insurgency to flourish.

Earlier this month, suspected Al Qaeda terrorists killed five soldiers in an attack on a gas terminal in southern Yemen. And in early August, the U.S. closed 19 diplomatic missions in the Middle East and Africa in response to what it said was a threat of a terrorist attack.

Although other embassies had already reopened, the U.S. embassy in Sanaa remained closed until Tuesday “because of ongoing concerns."